Product display and method of assembly thereof



Sept. 2, 1969 BAILEY 3,464,545.

PRCDUCT DISPLAY AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY THEREOF Filed Oct. '7, 1966 2Sheets-Sheet 1 IN wax "1 0R. 1/? WIN BAIL E Y A 7 7' ORA/E Y5:

Sept 1969 l. BAILEY 3' PRODUCT DISPLAY AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY THEREOFFiled Oct. 7, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 sis- FIG. 4

United States Patent 3,464,545 PRODUCT DISPLAY AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLYTHEREOF Irwin Bailey, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignor of one-half to MauriceHedaya, New York, N.Y. Filed Oct. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 585,100 Int. Cl.B6511 73/00; A47b 7/02 US. Cl. 206-80 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA display for a product wherein a product card has one or more slots andcooperating with each such slot is an elastic loop which is projectedthrough said slot and is engaged about a product positioned under theloop and across the slot. The position of the product therefore preventsthe elastic loop from being withdrawn from the slot and in functioningas such the product is held firmly in place against the product card bythe elastic loop.

The present invention relates to a product display, and moreparticularly to improvements in products displayed for sale on cards orthe like and in methods of assembling this type of product display.

A product display which is widely used, particularly for jewelryproducts such as cuff links, collarpins, etc., consists of aproduct-displaying member such as a card, usually fabricated with asimulated felt surface, having the jewelry products mounted thereon withan elastomeric cord. The prior art method of assembling this type ofproduct display generally entails providing spaced pairs of openings inthe product card and an initial step of hand-threading the elastomericcord through the openings so that length portions thereof extend betweeneach pair of openings, on the display or felt side of the product card,and thereby form loops for holding the products on the product card. Ina subsequent and independent operation, these exposed lengths of cordare lifted from the surface of the product card and are looped over theproducts being displayed on the product card. Although the resultingproduct display presents products in an attractive and advantageousmanner for sale, insofar as the display requires and the assemblingthereof entails the foregoing manual operations, it is not particularlyadapted for economical mass production and is therefore unnecessarilylimited in use.

Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedproduct display and method of as sembly thereof overcoming the foregoingand other shortcomings of the prior art. Specifically, and in accordancewith article aspects of the present invention, it is an object toprovide a product display of the type hereinbefore referred to which hassignificant structural changes for facilitating the assembly thereof. Inthis respect, an important aspect of the invention hereof is therecognition that the displayed product can be significantly functionalin achieving the resultant product display and the implementation ofthis in the display article of manufacture according to the presentinvention.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a method of assembly and afixture for practicing said method which eliminate tedious and costlymanual operations in producing a product display hereof.

An exemplary article of manufacture demonstrating article and methodaspects of the present invention includes a product card having anarrangement of generally rectangular slots therein and wherein anelastomeric cord, held at prescribed points in a position on theunderside of the card, has select length portions therealong ice locatedbetween said points which are projected, in the form of loops, to thedisplay side of the card through each slot. While each loop is in itsoperative location on the display side of the card, the product isinterposed between the loop and card transversely across a slot. Theloop thus serves as a holding means to confine the product to the card,aided in part by the interposed position of the product which preventsthe loop from being drawn to the underside of the card and losing itseffectiveness as a holding means.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features andadvantages of the present invention, will be more fully appreciated byreference to the following detailed description of an exemplary articleof manufacture hereof, a preferred method of assembly thereof and apresently preferred and illustrative embodiment of a mounting fixturefor producing said article of manufacture and practicing said method,said detailed description including the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary article of manufactureaccording to the present invention, said article including jewelryproducts held by an elastomeric cord in a mounted position of display ona product card;

FIGS. 2-6 illustrate, in sequence, a preferred method and mountingfixture used in the practice of said method for achieving the article ofmanufacture of FIG. 1, namely, to wit:

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mounting fixture illustrating themanner of arranging the elastomeric cord on holding members thereof;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view illustrating the product card in anoperative position over the mounting fixture for forming length portionsof the elastomeric cord into product-holding loops;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view, in section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3,illustrating details in the formation of a product-holding loop;

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view illustrating the placement of ajewelry article in position to be engaged by one of the elastomericloops; and

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective View of the completed article ofmanufacture after the product card, with the jewelry thereon, is removedfrom the mounting fiixture.

Reference is now made to the drawings wherein there is shown aproduct-displaying article of manufacture 10 of the type which istypically used for merchandising jewelry 12, such as the cuff links12a-d and collar pins 12e, As is the custom in the merchandising ofthese jewelry products 12, use is made of a product-mounting basepreferably in the specific form of a product card 14, fabricated ofcardboard or a similar material and having a simulated felt surfacethereon, to serve as a background for presenting the jewelry products 12in an attractive manner for sale. As is further the custom, the jewelryproducts 12 are mounted on the card 14 by an elastomeric ribbon, .bandor cord-like material 16 which has prescribed length portions therealongprojected to the felt or display surface 14a of the card 14 and formingproduct-engaging loops 16a which, as clearly shown in FIG. 1, aredisposed about each of the jewelry products 12 and are effective to holdthese products in place on the card 14. In the illustrated embodimenthereof, the opposite ends of the cord 16 are appropriately connected topins 18 and 20, of metal or plastic, which are effective to maintain theoperative location of the cord ends on the undersurface of the productcard 14. Alternatively, a closed loop of elastomeric cord can be usedwhich is elfective to maintain length portions of the cord in operativepositions beneath the card 14 while length portions therebetween areavailable for forming the loops 16a.

To form the loops 16a, select length portions between the points or cordends 18 and 20 are projected through rectangular slots 22 in the card 14(see in particular FIGS. 3-5) thus forming a loop above each slot.Further each loop 16a is maintained on the visible or felt side of theproduct card 14 by interposing one of the jewelry products 12 beneath itand the card 14. Thus each loop 16a engages the product and holds it inplace on the product card 14, and such product, by virtue of itsinterposed position across a slot 22 and beneath a loop 16a, contributesto the functioning of the article by preventing the loop from beingdrawn from its operative projected position on the visible side of theproduct card 14 to the undersurface of the card where it would betotally ineffective to function as a product-holding means.

Particular reference is now made to FIGS. 2-6 which illustrate, insequence, the use of a mounting fixture, generally designated 24 in FIG.2, and the practice of a preferred method in conjunction with themounting fixture 24 for producing a product-displaying article ofmanufacture 10 as has just been described in connection with FIG. 1. Themounting fixture 24 includes a base 26 having plural identicallyconstructed holding members 28 thereon which are arranged in pairs, suchas is exemplified by the pair of holding members 28a and 28b in FIG. 2.The overall arrangement of the holding members 28 on the base 26 will beunderstood to correspond with the pattern in which the slots 22 areprovided in the product card 14. That is, each pair of holding members28 is at an appropriate location on the base 26 so as to project througha slot 22 when the product card 14 is moved into an operative positionon top of the mounting fixture 24.

As is best shown in FIG. 2, the upper end of each holding member 28 isformed as a U-shaped configuration presenting spaced bifurcated arms280. The first step in the method of mounting jewelry products 12 on aproduct card 14 consists of threading the elastic cord 16 in theclearance spaces C between the bifurcated arms 28c in the mannerillustrated in FIG. 2. In this threaded position of the elastomeric cord16, all portions thereof, and particularly the select portions thereofbetween each pair of holding members 28, are in an elevated positionrelative to the surface of the base 26.

The next step in accordance with the method hereof, is to place theproduct card 14 over the mounting fixture 24 in the manner illustratedin FIGS. 3, 4. During this placement, each pair of holding members 28will align with a particular slot 22 and downward movement of theproduct card 14 against the base 26 will, of necessity, result in thatpair of the holding members 28' projecting through that slot 22. This,in turn, results in the length portions of the elastomeric cord 16 whichare extended between each pair of the holding members 28 being projectedto the display surface side of the product card 14 and thereby forming aloop 16a above this surface of the product card, while remaininginterconnecting cord lengths 16!) yield to card movement, all as isclearly shown in FIG. 4.

Turning now to FIG. 5, the next contemplated step in the method hereofis to interpose one of the jewelry products, such as the collar pin 12eas shown in this figure, beneath the elastic loop 16a and transverselyacross the rectangular slot 22. In this position, the collar pin 12ebridges the long edges of the rectangular slot 22 and prevents theprojected loop 16a from being withdrawn to the underside of the productcard 14 and, additionally, the collar pin lie is held in place againstthe product card 14 by the urgency in the elastomeric material ofconstruction of the loop 16a.

Once the product to be displayed is properly oriented beneath anelastomeric loop 16a and across a slot 22, the product card 14 is thenlifted from its operative position on the mounting fixture 24 to aposition clear of this fixture, as is illustrated in FIG. 6. Thisclearance position disengages the cord 16 from the holding members 28and permits contraction in the elastomeric cord 16 with the result thateach loop 16a draws firmly about the product and maintains it in aproper position on the product card 14.

From the foregoing, it should be readily appreciated that an exemplarydisplay article of manufacture 10 according to the present inventionemploys elastic cord 16 in the form of loops 16a to maintain products 12in proper display on a display card 14 or the like, and is particularlycharacterized in that the product itself is functional in achieving thisresult insofar as its interposed position between the product card andthe loop prevents the loop from being withdrawn to the underside of thecard and thereby losing its effectiveness as a holding means.

Although a preferred embodiment of a mounting fixture 24 and a sequenceof steps for assembling a product 122 on a product card 14 have beendescribed herein, it will be understood that the invention is not to belimited strictly to the materials described herein. For example, theelastomeric material 16 may take any shape or form, such as a cord,ribbon or the like. In other respects, as Well, a latitude ofmodification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoingdisclosure and in some instances some features of the invention will beemployed without a corresponding use of other features.

What is claimed is:

1. As an article of manufacture, the combination of at least one productand product-displaying means comprising a product mounting member havingan upper display surface and a bottom surface, said member having atleast one slot formed therein of a generally rectangular shape includinga pair of comparatively long edges in facing relation to each other, aproduct-holding means in the form of an elastomeric cord-like materialsecured at prescribed locations in positions beneath said member alongsaid bottom surface and having at least one intermediate portiontherealong between said prescribed locations projecting through said oneslot and forming a loop above said slot, and said one product mountedfor display on said member having a predetermined mounted positionthereon oriented transversely across said long edges of said one slotand engaged on one side by the area of said upper display surfaceadjacent said long edges and on the other side by said elastomeric loop,whereby the urgency of said elastomeric material maintains the positionof said product on said member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 618,410 1/ 1899 Goldsmith 206-1,626,337 4/1927 Haenicke 206-80 1,842,072 1/1932 Collingbourne 206-801,877,840 9/ 1932 Frowenfeld 20680 2,021,070 11/1935 Levine .206792,226,409 12/1940 Patterson et al. 206-80 FOREIGN PATENTS 415,103 8/1934Great Britain. 543,036 2/ 1942 Great Britain.

WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., Primary Examiner

